'Prepare'
Those words left a bad feeling within Jaspers heart but they also gave him excitement, he had lost interest in the world since the past year but these words and the mystical sight in front of him seemed to awaken something inside of him.
A small thumping could be heard coming from Jasper. He was like a young boy filled with wonder when seeing a bear, the promised danger of the situation did not reach him.
While all this was going on Jasper seemed to find a newfound passion for the world, his previous wretched mood disappeared not leaving a trace behind. A silent promise was formed within him, to live this life through.
And with a small grin stuck on his face Jasper hurried down from the clearing, rushing down the poorly kept trail, this time avoiding the vicious branches that threatened to attack him. However a tempting sight caught his eye when he reached halfway down the mountain.
There on the stony path lay a rock around the size of a baseball covered in a thin white flame that also led a trail a for up to several meters behind the rock, well the word lay wouldn't be correct, it was imperceptibly hovering above the ground, just fractions of a millimeter away from colliding with one of the flat smooth stones that covered the path.
As jasper approached the small meteorite a wave of heat wafted over him, the blazing white flames a testament of the tiny rocks previous speed before being trapped in time.
A wave of curiosity pulsed from the newly formed passion within Jaspers heart, leading him closer to the small rock. Grabbing a long and hefty stick Jasper reached out to prod the meteor, as the tip touched the flames it charred the wood but it still held.
Pushing further Jasper touched the surface of the meteor, Jasper then pushed hard against it and as if time went still for a second the meteor blasted forward into the ground.
Its terrific speed blasting the stone below it to shards and created a blast that splintered the end of the stick he held into threads. Jasper being a little over a meter away from the blast was relatively fine but got sent hard onto his back and was grazed by the stone fragments that exploded in mostly his direction leaving bloody gashes that bleed onto the rocks he lay on.
"auhhhh" he groaned on the stony ground he landed on as his water bottle in his bag also stabbed into his right shoulder blade.
Jaspers actions had seemingly unstuck the small meteor from its lock in time once he affected it enough. Jasper lay on his back for a few minutes to collect himself while questioning his own intelligence. He had been a bit too rash with messing with what seemed like a space time anomaly.
looking up Jasper spotted a crater Infront of him surrounded by dust and scoured earth. His body threatened to fall over as he tried to get up. But gritting his teeth Jasper walked over to the indent in the earth, sizzling and popping sounds coming continually from the steaming pit.
'The rock must still be scorching hot'
After all that he just went through he would be damned if he didn't take the small meteor with him, but the heat of it troubled Jasper on how to collect it without burning a hole through his bag or pockets.
The back of his right shoulder pulsed with pain which gave him an idea. After struggling for a bit with weakened arms Jasper took out his water bottle from his school bag. Pouring the contents of the bottle onto the black rock in the center of the crater, the steam produced clouding his vision and warming his body soothing his bruised muscles and cuts.
It only took a minute for the steam to clear but to Jasper it felt like forever. His fear of being caught and his curiosity caused him to feel very anxious with each passing second.
However those feeling had almost all but dissipated once he saw the meteor. The once round black stone now shimmered white in some areas where the water flaked off the carbon scale from its surface.
Pulling his arm a little up his jackets sleave was now wrapped around his hand. With slight protection covering his hand Jasper reached down into the crater and lay his open water bottle on its side next to the white speckled sphere, seeing the opening of his water bottle was big enough Jasper proceeded to roll the stone into the insulated metal bottle by slapping it a few times with his clothed hand being overly cautious as to not burn himself.
Putting the lid back on Jasper looked at the water bottle in his hand with pride for his own ingenuity before putting it back in his backpack, seemingly forgetting the foolishness of his previous actions.
Now that he wasn't distracted Jasper rushed down the trail with a even higher vigor then before reaching the entrance in ten minutes.
Jasper was now on a road surrounded by two mountain faces, he had a while to go before he would reach the outer suburbs. However instead of taking his time walking home Jasper ran even faster then before knowing that if the people who would come to investigate the meteor caught him leaving the scene covered in dirt and cuts they would question him and then confiscate the mysterious small meteor he had so painstakingly collected.
Jasper ran as fast as he could down the long and narrow road. His stamina had never been good and he had rarely done any outdoor activities nowadays, so by the time he was at outer suburbs he was on the verge of passing out from exhaustion, finally reaching the turn that lead to his house Jasper could have sworn he heard the harmony of multiple sirens heading to the place he had just come from but Jasper didn't take note of it as he continued his sprint home, it was only a few more blocks away.
What Jasper noticed while he ran home was the lack of people in the streets, this whole time from the outer parts of the suburbs to the inner Jasper only passed by two sleeping homeless men. This caused him to be more anxious.
Perhaps he had missed a government warning Jasper pondered while finally slowing down once he reached the front stone steps of his house.
Entering a rather long code into the gray metal door door Infront of him Jasper proceeded to slip inside shutting and locking the door behind him. Not bothering to turn on the lights Jasper slowly moved to the left to enter his living room where he made his way over to the long tan leather couch at the end of the wall, leaving his backpack on the carpeted ground as he crashed onto the plush couch where he proceeded to pass out from exhaustion.
Thankfully Jaspers parents and siblings were off on vacation for the next few days and he wouldn't be seen by them. He was meant to join his family for their vacation however his teacher Ms. Sophia forced him to stay by talking to his parents last week. She was controlling and possessive of him but for the first time one of her actions had unsuspectedly helped him.
Unbeknownst to the already unconscious Jasper his hand fell off the side of the couch onto his bag which fay at its feet. The meteor still within his water bottle pulsed in blue light for a few moments and at this same time golden runes appeared Infront of him.
[ Capabilities Now Unlocked For Inhabitants ]
[ Inhabitant Will You Absorb Energy Core {???} ]
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